Hawaii's newest Spanish and italian restaurant

Located just 2 miles away from Ala Moana Shopping Center lies Hawaii's newest Spanish/Italian fusion restaurant - Rigo. Located in the Kapahulu neighborhood at 885 Kapahulu Avenue, this new hip and trendy restaurant revitalizes the old Genki Sushi location and provides some of the best Spanish and Italian food on the island!

Inside you will find a very modern and chic restaurant giving it an upper-class restaurant feel. There's a huge wine wall, a beautiful bar, natural earth-tone decor, and even a large red bull emerging from the top wall over the bar. The atmosphere however is semi-casual and perfect for locals and tourist alike. This restaurant has the feel that it can be a nice date/business meeting, yet still be used as a casual hang out for Pau-hana.

The alcohol selection is quite large and they even have a bar that you can sit at while you wait for your table. The restaurant features a variety of wines as well as their own menu of signature mixed drinks and margaritas. For those that do not care for alcohol, there are also a variety of non-alcoholic drinks as well. 

​Pictured to the right is starting from the top is Rigo's Ginger Cup (house brewed Maui coffee ginger beer) with Rum. On the bottom is Rigo's signature Sangria (tropical fruit, organge juice, and red wine).

Appetizers or what Rigo calls It's Bocalicious menu (Boca is spanish for mouth + Delicious) is jam packed full of flavor. Personally I could go just go drinks and these small bites! Starting from the top left are their Puncho De Cerdo Taco's which use pork confit with a daikon tortilla, chipotle mayo, and cabbage pickles and onions. Moving to the top right is the Solomillo Con Foie which is grilled angus sirloin, foie gras, and braised daikon with grilled onion and percerino romano. Going to the bottom left is the Italian Vongole which uses white wine and sherry steamed manila clams with sea asparagus and cherry tomatoes. Lastly is their garlic bread on the bottom right which goes great with the vongole. 

Taco Pincho De Cerdo

Solomillo Con Foie

Vongole

Rigo's Garlic Bread

At Rigo you can also choose from a variety of wood fired pizzas. I tried the prosciutto and rucola and it was amazing! The pizza was like a thin baked pizza and they serve it with their own spicy chili oil. This pizza while tasty is very messy so you might need to eat it with a fork and knife. 

Prosciutto and Rucola

Moving onto the main course is the seafood paella which is a Spanish dish that uses manilla clams, Kauai shrimp, squid, carmareli rice and seafood stock. This dish is a seafood lovers dream and goes great with a splash of lemon. 

Seafood Paella

Lastly is the Colorado Lamp Chops which was by far my favorite out of everything. Here you have two pieces of Colorado french lamb rack with summer vegetable pisto. The lamb was cooked perfectly and the only thing that could make it better was if they served more!

Colorado Lamb Chops

For dessert I tried the homemade cashew ice cream which was served with crunchy crumbles. Very delicious and highly recommended to order two if you want something cold. The tiramisu was also very good and I would make that a double as well. 

Cashew Ice Cream

Tiramisu

​All in all Rigo is a great spot for all occasions that serves some very mouth-watering food! They are still new and adjusting to being able to serve such a large restaurant and I did find the service a little slow. But as long as they keep your drinks filled I'm sure you won't mind the wait. Be sure to make reservations or to eat early. There's also complimentary valet parking. If you go before the parking attendant arrives just park anywhere in the lot.